The present invention relates to a disposable agitator for mixed food products, such as ice creams, frappes, milk shakes or the like, enriched with candied items, sweets, chocolates, hazelnuts, pistachios or other condiments.
In particular, the present invention relates to a disposable agitator, having the shape of a spoon, which can be removably fixed to the rotary shaft of a mixer (mixing machine), so that the consumer can subsequently use it as a utensil to eat the product previously mixed, without compromising hygiene and without having to clean the agitator between one use and the next.
An agitator of this type is known, for example, from U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,287. It is made of plastic and comprises a hollow cylindrical elongated stem, closed at a free longitudinal end by an agitator blade which has the shape of a spoon.
The stem can be coupled by means of a snap on action to the rotary shaft of the mixer by means of axial sliding which results in the stem being fortified by the shaft inside its cavity.
In this way the stem, as well as being stiffened by the shaft, protects the latter from contamination which could arise from contact with different types of product. Once the ice cream or the like has been mixed with the respective condiment, the stem can easily be removed from the shaft to act as a handle in the subsequent use of the agitator as a utensil for eating the product.
In the agitator described above the simple spoon shape of the agitator blade does not guarantee satisfactory mixing of the products unless at relatively high shaft rotation speeds.
On one hand this may result in unwanted splashes of product on or around the mixer, and on the other hand it may break product the whipping bonds, in particular in the case of so-called soft ice creams which, if subjected to mixing that is too fast, tend to partly return to the liquid or semi-liquid phase.